Promoting equity and improvement science have seen increased attention over the last several years as educators seek to expand the experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for marginalized students. This book shows school and district leaders how to create the conditions needed to use improvement science--with its robust collection of tools,…

In the wake of the global pandemic, K12 schools are experiencing significant challenges with educator retention, ambiguous policy mandates, increased accountability, and inadequate teacher and principal pipelines. At the same time, philanthropic investments have increased the growth and influence of educational intermediary organizations as change…

One key mechanism through which evaluation facilitates teachers' growth is principals' feedback during teacher evaluation. In this study, we examined the relationship between teachers' perceptions of feedback quality and improvement in their instructional practices. We used student report--a meaningful but rarely used measure--to measure the…

This article argues that the last three decades of school improvement policies have progressively limited the places and arguments created for arts education in public schools. The result has been a steady marginalization of the arts in the work of school improvement, an exacerbation of opportunity gaps related to access to arts education, and a…

Teaching evaluation is a central process across institutions for faculty retention, promotion, and tenure. While there is a rich literature on methods for evaluating teaching, there is less scholarship on the goals and processes for reforming systems of teaching evaluation. Surprisingly, there is little to no information on teaching criteria at…

Central to the institutionalization of learning analytics is the need to understand and improve student learning. Frameworks guiding the implementation of learning analytics flow from and perpetuate specific understandings of learning. Crucially, they also provide insights into how learning analytics acknowledges and positions itself as entangled…

In the face of persistent challenges within Aotearoa New Zealand's education system, "Building on our Strengths" offers a fresh perspective on ways of improving the system by focusing on what we are good at. With the OECD highlighting our system's high quality but low equity, this book shifts focus from mere problems to uncovering what…

Purpose: This paper will discuss one university's efforts to initiate a process to better support PK-12 continuous school improvement goals for all 13 schools in their PDS network as a way to broaden the university's mission and respond more formally to the individual school communities with which they partner. Design/methodology/approach: The…

University partnerships with public schools are an innovative opportunity to marry research and practice. One such endeavor was the Heinz Fellows Program at the Center for Urban Education in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. The Heinz Fellows Program existed at the intersection of community engagement, public school praxis,…

Microteaching is a way of doing professional development for teachers wanting to incorporate new evidence-based and high-leverage practices into their instructional toolboxes. Given how much work is required in teaching and the limited time professionals have available, microteaching is an accessible process that supports instructional improvement…

Instructional leadership has become the dominant paradigm in principal preparation and professional learning. In parallel, teacher evaluation has risen in prominence. Using interviews from 84 principals in 23 districts and three states, we asked how teacher evaluation influenced principals' reported priorities and conceptions of instructional…

Regardless of sector, implementation science and improvement science are used to support and improve the implementation and scale-up of evidence-based programs and practices. This brief highlights similarities and differences between implementation science and improvement science, as well as how they can be used together to support programs and…

Higher education faculty receive assistance with their instruction, often through teaching or faculty development centers. Instructional consultations, offered by teaching centers, help to examine and analyze teaching to establish areas of improvement. This study examined the perceptions and experiences of higher education faculty who participated…

Collectively understanding the diligence and perseverance necessary for teachers to fully support student learning and not accept "give-up-itis" from students is essential for success in mathematics, especially for African American students. In the participatory action research (PAR), I examined the extent to which upper elementary…

The University of California, Irvine Writing Project's (UCI Writing Project's) Pathway to Academic Success project (Pathway) aims to improve students' academic writing through professional development for secondary English language arts (ELA) and advanced English language development (ELD) teachers. Based on evidence of Pathway's previous success…